Huntley said his department gets about 60 calls a year, most of which are on the Northway.

"It's not like they would be bored," Dubay added with a smile.

"I started at 18," said Carmen Cross, who is now in his 50s. "Ronnie (Dubay) recruited me. Both my father and brother were firemen."

After 47 years with the department in Lewis, Nate Gough is still active in the department.

"Everyone was a fire member back then. Anyone who could walk, run or be active joined back then. And the women were all on the auxiliary."

DRAWING YOUTH

Elizabethtown Fire Chief Ed Martin is attempting to get a youth group going to eventually get more members.

He's trying to get through the paperwork and see that the high-school-age members are covered by insurance, as 14-year-olds can be junior firefighters. They can help clean up and do other chores around the fire house.

"We might be able to recruit them if you can get the young people interested in time," Martin said. "Once they are out of high school they do their own thing."

Martin's impetus to becoming a firefighter was his cousin Pat.

"He kept harping, so to shut him up, I decided to help out and then joined."

Justin Madder and Joe Thomas-Train are two younger Elizabethtown firefighters who are residents in the nearby Mountain Lakes Services home.

"I just wanted to help out the community and was able to get in here and learn," Madder said.

"After 9-11, I wanted to help," Thomas-Train added. "Especially after what they (firefighters) did for us."

FAMILY EFFORT